Running From The Past
by ShinsengumiWarrior
Summary: "You can run from the past, but it always catches up" After Kouduo disappears, leaving the small Raetsu group with the Shinsengumi, on accident they all go berserk. On the hunt to kill them before they rein terror throughout the streets, they run into a mysterious figure who has already slain them. Who is this figure and how does he know about the Raetsu group?
1. Chapter 1

Running from the Past

"The past doesn't define who we are. It guides us to who we will become."

_Hello everyone! After watching the entire Hakuoki Anime, and both movies and loving them both I have decided to write a fanfiction. To be honest it was one of the best animes I have ever watched and wish it could go one for longer. I loved how every one of the captains were so protective of Chizuru, but also wished that she could do more than just help the sick. This fanfiction is another way the story could have gone, with Chizuru being more mysterious and strong. I also loved how every one of them would have been perfect with her as all of them have their own lovable quirks, so this story is about all of them, having their own feelings for her. So without further waiting let's get on with the first chapter!_

_Description: "You can run from the past, but it always catches up" After Kouduo disappears, leaving the small Raetsu group with the Shinsengumi, on accident they all go berserk. On the hunt to kill them before they rein terror throughout the streets, they run into a mysterious figure who has already slain them. Who is this figure and how does he know about the Raetsu group?_

Chapter 1: The Moonlight's Gleam

"Hijikata-san! I have something urgent!" Shouted Sannan from the other side of his door. Hijikata looked up from his poem, dropping his pen on his desk. He grabbed his pen and notebook and quickly shoved them in his drawer. He quickly stood up and gave a small glance around the room making sure that everything was an order. Satisfied he turned on his heal and approached the door. He grabbed the door handle and opened it revealing a very worried Sannan.

"What happened Sannan-san?" He stated with an angry sigh. '_Every Night' _he thought, something had to have happened to cause the Shinsengumi stress. He stepped outside taking a look of the surrounding area. The wind blew through the tree causing the leaves to shake. The sky was dark, with twinkling stars in the sky. The moon was also out leaving a beautiful silver shine on everything. To him it looked like something out of a tapestry, beautiful and majestic.

"The Raetsu group…" Sannan started. At hearing those words he completely abandoned looking at the scenery. He winced mentally. '_Oh no' _he thought.

"What happened?" Hijikata asked with urgency. The Raetsu group was a group of men who were once brutally injured on the battlefield. After being taken back to headquarters they were told by our doctor '_Yamazaki_' that there was not anything he could do. At the moment, which we thought was our savior a new medicine came into play. It was called '_The Water of Life'_ also known as '_Ochimizu'. _It had the power to save anyone no matter what condition their physical body was in. It gave them agility and power. After testing it out on these poor victims we realized it had major consequences. It destroyed their minds, they couldn't think clearly. Anyone with the drug could only go out at night, the sunlight burned them and injured them. But most likely the worst side effect, if the victim came in contact with blood they would go on a rampage. The Shinsengumi had to cut down many of their allies before they could hurt anyone. If it was Hijikata's choice he would have destroyed them all and canceled all research of the drug, it was a shame the doctor who invented the drug _'Doctor Yukimura Koudou' _disappeared and the Shinsengumi was ordered to continue their research on the drug.

"All of them went out of control and escaped!" Sannan shouted as quietly as possible. Hijikata's eyes opened in surprise.

"What!" Shouted Hijikata. He quickly looked around making sure no one was listening on their private conversation.

"Sannan-san gather all of the captains. We have to kill them before they hurt anyone! Make sure nobody hears about this. Tell them to be at the entrance to our headquarters as soon as possible!"

"Yes Sir!" Sannan quickly turned and ran to the rooms of the captains, making creaks with every step on the hardwood floor. Hijikata ran into his room, running to the stand where his katana and his short sword were. He grabbed them taking a moment to look at them. Satisfied he equipped them to his belt and adjusted them so they were easy to reach at moment's notice. He then turned to his candle and blew it out. Satisfied again he turned out of his room making sure to close the door behind him. He walked on the grass quickly and also quietly making sure to not disturb the soldiers who were sleeping. As soon as the gate was in view he sped up his pace a little.

"Saito, Souji, Sannan, Kondo." The five men cocked their heads towards him. As soon as they saw it was him they all turned their full bodies around and waited patiently for any orders. Hijikata turned and looked at Sannan.

"Did you inform them Sannan-san?" He asked quietly.

"Yes they've been informed" Sannan said he then turned away looking back at the rooms. "But it looks Harada, Shinpachi and Heisuke are running a bit late."

As soon as Hijikata heard that his brow furrowed, and he balled his fists up. He quickly turned around to face the rooms of all the soldiers.

"Do they know that if we don't find them, our entire reputation could be destroyed?" He looked like he wanted to explode, and Okita couldn't take the chance to not snicker. Hijikata turned and look at him with an angry expression on his face.

"If they do not show up very soon we will leave without them." As if on cue everyone heard feet trampling down the road.

"Sorry we're late!" Yelled Heisuke. Behind him Harada and Shinpachi both nodded. As soon as they saw Hijikata's face they all backed up a few steps. Hijikata looked like he was about to explode.

"I will deal with you later." Hijikata said with an angry sigh. "We have to go, now come on!" He looked to see all captains nodding. "Don't let one of them escape!" He ordered while running.

The captains swiftly ran through the streets. They checked every place where the missing Raetsu could be. They were coming up on the middle of the town. The moonlight shone through the alleyways making it easy to see. They were just about to run into the town square when they heard a loud and excited snarl. Hijikata, the lead of the small group, put his hand out behind him as a signal to stop them from advancing any farther. He pushed his back against the wall, and signaled the others to do the same.

"Be careful" Hijikata said in a hushed whisper. "And remember, do not let anyone of them live. Now, let's go!"

Every captain nodded, as they were all excited about killing them. Some with different reasons but all prepared.

Hijikata held up his hand signaling the countdown for when they were about to rush onto the street. '1.' everyone withdrew their katana's. '2.' Hijikata held two fingers out. Everyone gripped their swords firmly. '3.' they all charged out prepared to cut down everything that they had to. What they didn't expect was to be stopped in their tracks.

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw what was before their eyes. They all looked at the statue directly in the middle of the town square. On top they saw a black hooded figure. The person wasn't moving. To Heisuke it didn't even look like whoever it was, was breathing. The persons black hood was flowing with the wind, completely covering the persons face. Broken out of the hypnotized state, they all looked down at the bottom of the statue to see the five escaped Raetsus, growling and sneering.

"Blood. Blood! Give us blood!" They all shouted in unison. They all tried to climb the statue but they all fell back down. They now were shouting very loud. "Blood! Give us blood!"

Heisuke couldn't stand it anymore. He didn't know the person on the statue, but he didn't care. No one was going to die on his watch. He started charging in, when he was unexpectedly thrown in the wall behind him. He looked behind him to see Okita with a smirk on his face smiling and Hijikata in front of him glaring.

"Wait. He doesn't seem like he is worried. We need to watch." He said calmly. Heisuke's eyes flew open.

"What! What if-!" A hand clamped over his mouth.

"Shut up Heisuke!" Harada ordered, while driving his spear into the ground. Heisuke growled. He didn't like the thought of anyone getting hurt. He was just about to argue when he heard Saito shout which was very rare.

"Look!" Saito whispered he yelled. They all turned their attention to the statue once again. They all held their breath as they watched the mysterious figure unsheathe a very sharp sword. He held up, letting the moon's pale glow cast upon the sword.

"So he can fight, makes more sense." Sannan whispered, keeping his eyes glued to the scene in front of him. They watched as the mysterious figure pointed his sword at the nearest Raetsu.

"So he is going to fight." Okita sighed. "This is going to make it way harder to kill him after." Souji stated with a smirk. In a second all eyes glared at him.

"If we can figure something out, then we won't." The once quiet Kondo said while turning his eyes back to the fight.

"Look!" Shinpachi whispered, making everyone to once again look back. In one second they watched as the figure jumped off the statue and landed behind the first Raetsu. He quickly turned around swinging his arm swinging his arm with it, chopping the Ratesu's head off. In the blink of an eye he sped over to the next one jumping over it, when he was directly above it he pushed the sword through its head, causing it to fall to the ground and shake until it moved no more.

"Wow, he is really good!" Heisuke said while smiling. "Now we won't have to chase all of them down."

"Yeah." Saito quietly agreed.

"If Saito agrees then you know he is good." Shinpachi said with a smirk. They all heard a thud as they watched two of the last three Raetsu fall to the ground with the single swipe of his sword.

"Yeah he is good." Okita stated with a smirk. "But it isn't going to be fun killing him." Once again they all turned their attention to him glaring.

"What? It's true isn't it?" Okita said while turning his toward the action. "And there goes the last one." They watched as final Raetsu fell to the ground, blood spilling from his chest. They all looked up to see the person remove his blade from the monster's chest. Hijikata sighed.

"Souji, Saitou." They perked up to the call of their names. "Surround him. Make sure there is no exit. Go, quickly."

"Fine, Fine lets go Saitou." Okita smirked, while Saitou nodded. They were about to run, when Hijikata noticed the person stop.

"Wait guys." He whispered. Saitou and Souji turned back to see what was wrong. They watched as the person lift his hand up the hood covering his face.

"He is going to remove his hood!" Harada said with shock. All of their eyes went to the hooded figure. The captains watched as the mysterious person gripped his own hood. As he pulled it down they saw beautiful brown hair come flowing out from behind the hood, blowing in the breeze. They watched as beautiful, sparkling amber eyes emerged, and stare up at the moon. They all gasped. It was a girl!

"It's a girl!" Kondo pointed out mouth hanging open. Everyone was shocked. Well, to Hijikata it wasn't necessarily shocked. It was more '_How the hell are we going to deal with this.' _He tried moving but it was like he was hypnotized to watch the girl. He watched as freeze in her spot, taking no care that she had just taken down five furies. He turned his head the slightest bit, breaking eye contact with the scene in front of him to check how the other captains were making out, and to his dismay they were in the exact situation as him, each with their own facial expression of shock. He was about to criticize them for completely neglecting their duties just because it was a girl, when out of the corner of his eye he saw the girl lift the sword into the air. Hijikata whipped his head facing towards her, immediately signaling everyone into the wall, and drawing is sword, assuming it was a plan of attack. He stopped when he saw that she had pointed it at the moon. The moon's light shone down in the sword, illuminating it in pale light and giving the sword a majestic look. The captains watched as she stood there, staring up at the moon light. To them if they didn't watch her slice down all those enemies, they could have mistaken her for a statue. It stayed like that for a while until the girl started wavering. The group each shared a look of curiosity.

"What's up with her?" Heisuke whispered, slightly tilting his head. Suddenly, they watched as the girl closed her eyes for a moment. They watched as she kept the sword up, but had her eyes closed. All eyes flew open as the sword slipped from her hand, and fell on the ground with a _'clang._' The thought running through everyone's mind wad '_Why would she drop her sword.'_ They didn't have much time to focus on that, as a moment after, taking after her sword, fell to the ground beside it.

"What's wrong with her?" Shinpachi yelled, following the other captains towards her. Saitou instantly dropped to the ground and checked her pulse. As he put his hand on her wrist, he instantly pulled back.

"What's wrong Saitou?" Kondo asked curiosity. He instantly stuck his hand out for the other captains to see, as a sticky red liquid slid down his arm. They all let out a small, gasp not expecting it at all. They all watched in anticipation as Saitou pulled up her sleeves revealing long and deep cuts across her right arm, all of them spilling blood.

"What happened?! It didn't look like she had gotten injured during the fight!" Heisuke said with frown.

"Wait." Saitou said with no emotion as he lifted the arm, pulling up the sleeve. It was the exact same as the other arm, blood completely covering it. He then shifted his body to face the pant legs, pulling them up to reveal even more cuts on the legs than on the arm.

"How could she have fought with these?" Souji pondered aloud. "And even more surprising, not pass out. She shouldn't even be out of bed with these wounds." Okita stated.

"We don't have time to consider these things! Heisuke! Shinpachi!" Both men jumped to attention at hearing the vice-commander call out their names.

"Go tell Yamazaki that we have an urgent patient come his way. Make sure to get everything ready to patch her up. We can't let her die." Hijikata stated simply. They both nodded and started running back the way they came.

"Can't let her die?" Okita said with mischief clearly written on his face. "Love at first sight, eh Hijikata-san?" Okita said with a laugh.

"We can't let her die because, she could have some information for us. We also have to interrogate her." Hijikata said with a furious look. Okita was about to reply, when Kondo stepped in.

"She is losing a lot of blood, we have to get moving!" Kondo said with urgency. Hijikata growled.

"Saitou, carry her sword. Harada, take off their coats. I will carry her. Now let's move!" Hijikata yelled bending down and picking her up. He place her in bridal position, starting to run, already feeling the blood seep through her clothes. He saw them disperse to do their designated tasks. He didn't dare stop as he could feel her heaving breathing. His glare turned intense as he started charging towards base. They all ran into the distance, running at full speed as the pale moonlights glow, shone on their backs.

_How was it? I hope you all enjoyed, because I had a lot of fun writing this. This is actually my first fanfiction and I am pretty eager to hear how it turned out, so please review! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day! _

_~Shadow _

_December 18, 2014_


	2. Chapter 2

Running from the Past - 2

_Hello! Here is the second chapter to 'Running from the Past' I hope you enjoy it. I would like to mention that my story will not be in order of what happens in the anime. I want to add more events to help give them time to trust her, and have a bond with her. I am also not the best with the war information, so if anything seems wrong please tell me! I have not gotten a review yet, so please review! I would love to hear feedback._

_Description: "You can run from the past, but it always catches up" After Koudou disappears, leaving the small Raetsu group with the Shinsengumi, on accident they all go berserk. On the hunt to kill them before they rein terror throughout the streets, they run into a mysterious figure who has already slain them. Who is this figure and how does he know about the Raetsu group?_

Chapter 2: Mysterious

No words were spoken between the men. No words were _needed._ They were currently retracing their steps, all the way back to head-quarters. They were silent, with the exception of there once sneaky and silent pace, replaced with their fast and noisy one. They quickly rounded the corner, with their base coming into view. Hijikata gave a quick view to make sure that everyone was with the group. After a quick count, he was content that none of them had gotten left behind. He then turned his gaze to the maiden in his arms.

She was breathing heavily, while twisting and turning. Her face had gone red, which he then assumed as her having a fever. He felt a small amount of pity for the girl, she looked like she was in deep pain. But as he thought about it, he wondered,

'_Who is she?' _In his opinion he was definitely a little curious about her. The more he thought about it, the more questions appeared in his head. '_Where did she learn that fighting style?' _And _'How does she know about the Raetsu group?' _He then narrowed his eyes. '_Or was it just a coincidence that she met them?'_ These thoughts had filled his head as he ran through the gate that separated the Shinsengumi members from normal society. They all executed a sharp left, running to the medical house, where sick members are placed to recover. The group ran until they saw the faces of Yamazaki, Heisuke and Shinpachi. As soon as they recognized them, Hijikata ran into an empty room and place the girl gently on one of the mats. He then stood up and motioned for everyone to come in. All of the captains quickly gathered around the unconscious girl, while Yamazaki immediately dropped down to the floor to check her.

He quickly pulled up her sleeves which revealed her bloody hands. He scowled angrily, these cut marks were deep but not lethal. He was about to reply to the long waited silence, by relieving the captains about his news when he saw blood dripping down her legs. He quickly pulled up her baggy pant legs to expose another row of deep cuts. But then his eyes widened in shock '_who is she?' _After hearing the gasp every captain paled. Yamazaki has never gasped, or even look remotely shocked after looking at a patient.

"Most of the cuts are really deep." He reported, his eyes never leaving his patient. "… Where did you find her?" He questioned. After he immediately grabbed his medical kit that he was carrying and dug through it, until he found his gauze. He then started address all the sword wounds waiting for their answer. The captains looked a little shaken. Yamazaki had never asked any questions when addressing people in need of medical attention. He just went to work, doing everything he could. Okita was the first to reply.

"…Does it matter Yamazaki-san?" He replied, the foolishness found in his voice before completely gone.

"Her wounds, they are… peculiar." He replied his attention still completely on her. "Most of them are by sword, but a few…" He paused. "Are by gun." He stated his voice emotionless. He then completely stopped, and finally turned his head to face them. "No one in this area uses guns. They are mainly are used in the West…"

"Wait… So she is from the West?" Heisuke asked, not yet getting it.

"No, Heisuke." Harada said with a sigh. "It means… this girl is a mystery…" He said letting his voice trail off.

"She didn't get hurt from the Raetsu group… Was she perhaps running from someone who had a gun when she bumped into our furies?" Okita said, as he spoke his mind. "But then again, is there any foreigners who would even come into Kyoto?"

"Wait." Yamazaki responded. "These gun wounds… There are no bullets in any of them." It took a moment for what he had said to sink in.

"Does that mean that these are not fresh?" Saito asked quietly. Everyone went into their own thoughts.

"Ugh! Can't we just focus on healing the wounds? She could be dying here!" Shinpachi asked with anger in his voice. He also was curious about her. Everything instantly went silent except for Yamazaki's quiet wrapping of the wounds. No said, or did anything waiting for orders.

"Wow…" Heisuke said breaking the silence. Everyone turned to him confused.

"What?" Hijikata said with a sneer. He honestly just wanted to go back to his room, to write some haiku poems or fall asleep. This was honestly frustrating, another person who he had to silence. He also knew that she was special in some way. It felt like she was there, not just by coincidence but for orders.

"It's just that…" He said snapping Hijikata out of his mind. A light shade of pink appeared on his face. "I didn't look at her clearly before…" He said, instantly turning away out of embarrassment. Once hearing that, everyone in the room turned to the maiden on the floor. The girl's black haori had been taken of so Yamazaki could get a clear look at her. The girl, in combat had her hair tide in a ponytail but had been taken out due to her fever. Her brown hair was long and wavy, and was sprawled out on the hard wood floor. She was wearing a navy blue kimono that stopped a little below her knees, with the back of it flowing all the way down to her ankles. The edging was midnight black, with small pink flowers on the kimono. Her geta were black, with the hanao navy blue, matching the kimono. She even had a pink flower tucked in her hair. Right now she was lying peacefully, her face becoming a paler version of red with the seconds passing, due to the medicine Yamazaki had given her during their discussion.

"I have fin-…" Yamazaki cut off the sentence, upon seeing the gazes upon his superiors faces. He could've laughed if Hijikata wasn't in the room. All of them were looking at the girl with widened eyes. He admitted it, she was beautiful, stunning in fact. But the difference between him and the captains was he wouldn't get choked up on seeing a pretty girl. He also had his priorities set out for him. He wouldn't worry himself with a girl. In fact, the entire was so lost in thought about the girl in front of them, they didn't even see Kondo, who wasn't affected by the girls charm walk over to Hijikata.

"Isn't she cute?" Kondo said with mild care, more fascinated with the looks on some of their faces. All the captains jumped to attention upon hearing their commander, trying to hide their small blush that had sneaked up on their faces.

"Oh, uh Kondo!" Hijikata said with a quick jump upon seeing his face. Kondo had the face of a trouble maker, evident all over his face. Before Hijikata could get himself together, Okita had already taken the liberty of answering.

"I think Hijikata likes her." Okita reported with a smirk. "Wouldn't that be cute, big and scary demon leader with a cute, fighter" Hijikata's face went from a light pink to an instantaneous red, his eyes filled with anger.

"Souji!" He yelled. If he was mad at Heisuke and Shinpachi hours ago he was furious now. Everyone in the room instantly shut up, except for Okita who still kept his mischievous cat face on.

"… I will speak with you later!" He said with an angry shout, his eyes closed trying to not kill him. He then turned to Kondo.

"So… What are we going to do right now?" Harada said with a sigh, trying to get Hijikata's mind off Okita.

"Yamazaki, is she stable?" Kondo said, his sheepish grin still not gone.

"Yes." Yamazaki said with a sigh. He was now tired of this conversation.

"Alright. Souji, Saitou watch over the girl. Yamazaki stay close by in case of need by." Hijikata ordered.

"Will she need to be tied up?" Saitou asked, walking over and pulling a rope from the closet.

"No." and "Yes." Appeared at the exact same time. The two commanders who had answered turned to face each other.

"Kondo, you have seen what she is capable of." Hijikata muttered with a glare.

"Then take the sword away from her." Kondo said, with a tone in his voice saying that it was obvious.

"Besides." He continued "She is our guest." Kondo said with a wink, while everyone immediately rolled their eyes, except for Saito who kept his cold façade up.

"She saw the Rasetsu. She either stays here or dies!" Hijikata shouted. He was now angry. Why couldn't they have a peaceful, non-stressful night for once?

"Why can't we decide this in the morning?" The once quiet Sannan asked. Everyone who wasn't currently in the discussion nodded eagerly.

"Fine. Saito, Souji stay here. Give us notification immediately if she wakes up." Everyone gave each other a quick nod before returning to their designated rooms for their well-deserved rest. Saitou and Okita just watched as everyone left, their geta clicking on the floor with each step. After making sure everyone had left, Saitou walked over to the closet to put the rope back. After quietly sliding the shoji door closed he walked over to the wall farthest away from her immediately sitting down, head leaning against the wall. Okita walked over and joined Saitou, making a fake pout face.

"Aw come on Hajime-kun. Going to rest already?" He said with feigned shock. His eyes held a glint of mischief in them, while Saitou's held nothing but displeasure and boredom.

"We have orders. We must follow them." Saitou answered, his voice not once showing emotion.

"Fine, fine." Souji said with a laugh. He then made space, a little farther from Saitou and a little closer to the girl. He smiled, if she makes a move she dies. He then rested his against the uncomfortable wall and closed his eyes.

This was going to be a long night

The light shined the through the thin paper door, landing on her sleeping face. She slowly and lazily lifted her eyes up to reveal sparkling amber eyes, being helped by the suns radiance. She gazed around the room she was currently in confused as to how she had gotten there. The room was very simple. It had nothing in it except for the futon which she was in and a small table to her left. After continuing her gaze around the room she also added, two people.

Her eyes narrowed. She wasn't exactly fond of the arrangement. She then questioned as to what was going on. She looked at them immediately taking in everything about them. One of them had lilac coloured hair while the other had red. They both had their eyes closed. They were breathing peacefully, nothing seeming to be out of order. So they were pretending to be a sleep. She smiled, there breathing was not in even breaths, well to the normal eye they were. Both of them were calm and even, but to her even the slightest abnormalities were detected. But the question was _'Why were they trying to sleep?' _She questioned if she should call their bluff, but decided against it after seeing their swords, hanging at their hips. She then gave a quick glance to her bed, without moving her head. She inwardly sighed when her sword had disappeared. '_Am I being held captive?'_ She wondered. It was the most logical answer, as to explain why she had two dungeon keepers in her room and her sword taken.

She then recalled why she had passed out last night. '_I had over done it again' _she scolded herself. She then took off her blankets to see how bad her wounds were, but furrowed her brow when she saw them all bandaged. '_This is weird…'_ She thought but then sighed, not caring if the two heard it. She needed to come up with some sort of plan. It had been around ten minutes since she had woken up. She knew they were probably waiting for her to make a move. She then narrowed down her options. '_I either call out to them or make a run for it.'_ It wasn't the best choices considering she had no knowledge of where she was. '_Fine… I guess I'll call out to them.' _She didn't want to appear an enemy. She smiled as she fell back first into the blankets.

"Should I just go back to sleep? I mean if you guys want, you can imitate sleep all day." She said with a giggle. Upon realizing their bluff had been called the two men instantly opened their eyes and stared at her.

"My, my, isn't someone observant" The red headed one chuckled. "She even saw through you Hajime-kun." The man with the lilac coloured hair didn't react at all.

"I will go get Hijikata-san." The man named Hajime said with a tone of nothing. He then turned around and quietly opened the shoji door and slipped out of it, gracefully. He then reclosed it, and started walking to wherever the desired Hijikata was. Once the man was out of view, the redheaded one turned, full attention on her.

"I'm assuming you're wondering where you are. But if you try to escape I'll have to kill you." He said with a smirk. She gave a sly smile in response, completely unfazed by the threat. To be honest, she didn't really care if these men had come to kill her. She completed the goal set out before her, but she would've like to have done more with her life. The silence continued as they waited for whoever was to come.

"You know… If you say one wrong thing, you die." Okita said, hands behind his head completely relaxed. She just ignored him, after all, death didn't scare her. A minute after you could hear the clicking of several geta as they approached her room. The shoji door slid open as it revealed several men. Most of them bore happy expressions.

All of them quickly gathered around her, sitting and staring at her and the three men who sat at the end of the futon. Two of them wore somber expressions, while the older one just had a happy smile on his face. He looked like he was always happy, as he seemed to have a very cheerful aura surrounding him.

"Hello Miss. My name is Isami Kondo, and I am the head of the Shinsengumi." The cheerful man said, his smile never fading. Her eyes widened. '_Damn it!' _She screamed in her mind. The captains watched her reaction, as it showed complete recognition but then changed to complete mystery.

"It seems, we have a lot to talk about. But I would first like to ask, as to where you got those wounds." He said his cheerful aura finally disappearing.

"Oh, now I understand." She said with a smile. All the Shinsengumi captains looked confused. What could she mean, was the question on their minds.

"You were the people who were watching me last night." She said her small smile never leaving her face. Most of the Shinsengumi captains look startled. But one of them, who had amethyst coloured eyes who had looked angry from the start, only grew angrier due to this information. He narrowed his eyes.

"How did you know we were there?" He said, his voice dripping with poison. She felt like he was a cobra, and she was the rat. Any wrong moves and she was dead. Everyone in this room stopped and looked at her, curiosity shining in their eyes. Her smile turned into a giggle.

"You're not that hard to point out. I didn't feel threatened by you, and I didn't have the energy to run with my wounds so I did nothing." She said, as if her words had explained everything.

"Wait, your avoiding the question." Someone in glasses pointed out. "Where did you get those wounds?" He asked with interest clearly in his voice. She was about to answer when she was interrupted.

"Wait, before we going into further depth, wouldn't it be rude not to ask her name?" Kondo said with a smile. All eyes turned to her. The small smile appeared yet again on her face. She was just going to have to give her fake name. She had grown accustomed to using her fake name, her real name being lost in the past. Now she was going to use it again, before she escaped Kyoto, never entering it again.

"My name is Tsukino. Tsukino Chizuru."

_And there you have it. Second chapter completed. The protagonist is still Chizuru, although I hoped I have gotten you curiosity. I would like to mention that she is going to be a little OOC as I want her to have a more, strong and confident side. If you liked it please Favourite, Follow and Review. It means so much to me. I need to know if this story is liked or not. Also is good motivation for writing._

_Geta - Japanese foot wear_

_Hanao - The strap the is on a Geta_

_Shoji - The Japanese paper doors_

_Thanks for Reading! And have a wonderful day!_

_~Shadow _

_December 29, 2014_


	3. Chapter 3

Running from the Past – 3

_So here it is! I'm sorry if it isn't the best. Just watched the entire season of 'Aldnoah. Zero' it was amazing. My friend showed me the song for, 'aLIEz' and because of the awesome song, I watched it. Damn it Slaine! Lol, Enjoy! _

_I don't own Hakuoki. If I did everyone would be alive! Although that would be historically inaccurate I wouldn't care!~ and most likely Saitou or Souji would be paired with her. _

Chapter 3: The Challenges

"Well nice to meet you Chizuru-san." Kondo said with a smile. She gave a quick glance around the room, and smiled as most of them had their faces scrunched up staring directly at her eyes. She paused and continued watching them, watch her. It was amusing. After a minute more she inwardly groaned, while rolling her eyes. '_It's not nice to stare' _was the expression her eyes bore as she looked back at everyone. As if reading her mind, they all turned away. She then smiled, while turning back to Kondo.

"Thank you very much for helping me." Chizuru said with a small, polite bow. "But, I'm afraid I have to go." She said as she put her hand to the floor pushing herself up. As soon as she was up, she was back down, two different hands pushing her shoulders down, easing her back into the pile of blankets. She glanced to her right, and saw someone wearing all black. In his hand he held a medical kit. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Your wounds are not healed yet. I'm assuming from the assessment I have made that you push yourself over the edge, not stopping to let your body heal. Am I correct?" He said, his eyes never leaving hers. Her eyes went into a glare. He hit the nail right on the head. She responded with nothing, rolling her eyes in the process. The red haired man with the emerald eyes smiled as he saw the display in front of them.

"Well, now that we know your name, shouldn't we introduce ourselves?" He said with a smirk. Fake name, she thought as she smiled. The man who had butted heads with her, responded with a glare.

"After all, you are our guest." He said, turning his gaze to Kondo, winking in the process. The man responded with a laugh, while the man beside him let out an angry sigh.

"I'm Heisuke!" The youngest person said with a smile. He had his long brown hair pulled into a messy ponytail. "You look about the same age as me! Maybe we can be friends." He said with a hopeful voice. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. Her face was emotionless. She watched as they all anticipated her reaction. But truthfully she didn't know how to react to the situation either. '_Why would someone who is possibly holding me captive want to be friends…?' _Tried thinking of multiple reasons, but none of them made sense. She didn't want to over complicate it, so it came down to 'Yes' or 'No.' She looked up to make sure he was actually serious, and was surprised upon seeing a huge grin. She sighed.

"…Maybe…" She said turning away and looking at the door. She didn't want to disappoint him, with that face of his. Upon hearing some weird noises of surprise she looked back over to the group of boys, and raised her brow upon seeing some of their expressions. '_I guess they'd thought I'd decline' _she thought finally putting herself in a sitting position.

"I'm Shinpachi!" Someone blurted out moving his attention a huge man to her right. "I'm the strongest fighter here! See, look at these bad boys!" He said flexing his muscles. After he was done promoting himself, he turned to look at her his smile disappearing upon seeing her reaction. Her eyebrow had been raised and she was scrunching her face up. They made eye contact which she quickly brushed off before turning the other direction, leaving him terribly confused. It only took a minute before everyone around him burst out laughing.

"She got you good!" Someone said between laughs. He had long red hair kept in a ponytail over his shoulder. As she was watching the display she was inwardly pulling out her hair. '_What have I gotten myself into? First being captured by them of all people! Plus he is still after me!' _She didn't know what to do, as she had never been in this situation before. Her thoughts led back to her peaceful childhood. Nothing was out of place, except for her interest in sword play. She would continuously bug her dad, to take her to a dojo. Of course every time he did they would laugh at her saying remarks such as "Let the men handle the sword." Or "You'd be better off staying at home, with the cooking and cleaning." Of course followed by snickers from the students after. After multiple attempts she was ready to give up, but just as her desire to fight was almost gone her father otherwise known as her savior at the time came in with a solution. One of his old patients, who was an excellent fighter in swordplay volunteered to train her. If she just realized how dangerous his red eyes were she probably would be leading a normal life. But her stupid self only saw the opportunity as amazing, many years later she came to regret it. Then came the incident. She dug her finger nails into her skin, desperately trying to avoid remembering it. She then felt the urge to sigh but stopped herself, remembering the point of recalling her past. Completely forgetting who was in the room she whispered to herself.

"… I would've been better off running." She didn't want to appear rude or ungrateful for the service that they had given her but she knew it was true. Right now she was a sitting duck, waiting for him to snatch her. She also knew that their service didn't come for free. They wanted information, information that she would carry with her too the grave. She knew that they were all in here to interrogate her, she realized that friendly approaches and greeting were all just a way to help get her to spill the information. She smiled, not caring if it appeared on her face. They were going to leave disappointed, most likely with her blood on their hands. They were most likely not going to let her leave, but they were wrong if they think they can hold her here with no resistance. She looked up, as relief filled up inside of her, as they were all still arguing.

"What was that?" The man who seemed to her, said his eyes conveying his true emotion. _Anger._ I didn't hesitate with my answer, no reason to be scared of him. Everyone who was arguing instantly stopped backing up a few inches. They knew when he when his voice was quiet, he was the angriest.

"Nothing." She said innocently, smiling as she looked him straight in the eyes. She watched curiously as his eyes widened and he was visibly shaking. What she noticed in the corner of my eye, was the man named Hajime, was sitting up preparing to speak.

"You had indeed said something. I am curious to know what it was as well." He said. Although he said he looked curious there was nothing in his stance that proved it. '_So he must be a quiet person.' _She thought. She then turned her gaze back to the guy who was still shaking, anticipating her response. She then looked down.

"Although, I thank you for you services and kindness for helping me I really don't have time to be here." She looked up for a brief second, realizing that everyone's attention was on her. "There is a reason I don't have time to rest and recover. I am always on the move, if I stay anywhere too long… Everyone dies." She watched as everyone's face went into confusion. She didn't wait for them to respond. "I know that you have come to interrogate me, although I'll let you know that you won't be getting any answers. What I have told you is all you will ever get." She then closed her eyes, waiting for nothing. She then slowly opened her eyes, confused as to why she was seeing everyone looking at her with pity. She pondered why but then understood as she saw the face of the man with amethyst eyes. She saw as his face went into complete calmness, and watched as his two companions beside him had their eyes widened, their silent conversation speaking volumes. They both grabbed his arms hauling him up. '_So that's the face he makes when he is about to explode.' _

"We will be back in a second. Please keep her company." Kondo said with a fake smile. She watched as the two of them quickly slid open the door, as the man passed through. They swiftly closed the door, and made their way down the hall. She closed her eyes and said nothing waiting for most likely her death sentence.

"I'm Okita Souji." The man with the forest green eyes said with a smile. "Although your probably not going to live to tell the tale of meeting me." He said with fake disappointment. "When Hijikata gets angry with someone who isn't part of the Shinsengumi they die." She glanced over, instantaneously understanding what he is was imposing.

"I'm not scared of death in the slightest. I've already completed my main goal." She said unfeelingly. She watched as everyone's eyes held sadness. She didn't question it.

"Well you just got hella more interesting. Your first day being here and you already made the Vice-Commander furious." She didn't respond as she watched everyone roll their eyes.

"I'm Harada Sanosuke. Don't mind him, I'm sure you'll be just fine." He spoke with confidence although his eyes betrayed him. His eyes held doubt, and she hated the pity that was radiating off him.

"Thank you Harada-san although I can assure you I don't need false assurances." She said with a small sad smile. This smile wasn't like her normal ones, it was genuine. She guessed it was okay, showing a little emotion in her final hours. Or was it minutes. She didn't care.

"I- Uh um…" Harada was cut off as the silent man in the corner finally spoke.

"She is correct. We don't have any right to give reassurance when we don't know the outcome. She can very easily die in this situation." He spoke, his eyes closed. She didn't know why but she respected him. She respected him for giving the truth of the outcome no matter the situation.

"His name is Saitou Hajime, by the way." Okita said lazily. He then looked directly at her with a smirk. She rolled her eyes. '_Is there anything that this man can do besides smirk?' _She thought, getting annoyed. She then abruptly looked up her head eyeing the door. Everyone noticed, and everyone grew tense. She knew they were going to spring up at her if she tried to get up.

"We'll have to kill you if you try to run." Okita said with another smirk, putting his hands behind his head. She watched as everyone turned their head the other way. She then turned to face him, he was a little surprised to see an even bigger smirk on her face.

"If my strategy of escape, was by running don't you think I would've tried when there was only two of you in here?" She then paused as she turned back to the door, satisfied Okita had dropped the irritating smile. They watched as she stopped moving, and just stared at the door. After a few minutes she finally let out a small reply.

"… I was so close…" She said surprising everyone. They all turned to her, her smile never leaving. She just stared at the sunshine and the sky. The paper doors were easily see through. Everyone turned to look at each other, confused as to what she had meant.

"What do you mean Chizuru?" Heisuke said with a frown. Chizuru almost let her head turn to Heisuke, but stopped. She was not understanding why he called her by her first name. She let the thought slide off her back, not caring anymore.

"I was so close, to being done, interacting with the human race." Her answer startled everyone. She didn't let her gaze from the door, waver. It was if she looked away, it would disappear. She knew they were probably making non- vocalized conversation with each other thought their eyes, but once again she didn't care.

"What do you mean? Shinpachi asked, a little angry with her answer. Why would she say that, was the only thing on his mind. She finally turned her gaze away from the door, her eyes bore great sadness as she looked at him. It unsettled him. A beauty look her should never be sad, he thought. He then realized what he had just thought and he instantly tore his gaze from her.

"My plan was to leave Kyoto this morning. I had completed my goal, and was finally going to wander into the wilderness, and most likely die." The way Chizuru spoke, how calm it was, made Heisuke want to grab her, hug her and never let go. It sounded like she had given up on life which was by no means acceptable to him. The sounds of disapproval throughout the room made Chizuru confused. _'Why did they care about her and the fate she was already destined to succumb to?' _

"You know you kind of just blew the chance of ever leaving, right?" Souji asked, all playfulness in his tone gone. Sounds of agreement went around the room. She sighed, already going to ask what they were talking about. What she didn't expect was a question of the past to come up.

"Is this about the person who is chasing you?" Saitou asked, his eyes showing a little bit of sadness, which she instantly assumed was her eyes playing tricks on her. Her eyes instantly widened, her head leaning forward. '_How did they know?' _She thought freaking out on the inside. They all watched her reaction, most of them happy that she wasn't able to hide her obvious recognition.

"You're funny Chizuru." Harada said with a smile. She was instantly snapped out of her thoughts. She looked at him with mild annoyance. '_What did he mean?' _She didn't have to ponder much longer.

"If you think we're going to let you even leave this room you're mistaken." Shinpachi smiled. She looked at them confusion evident on her face. What did they mean? It was true. There was someone chasing her, but how on Earth did they know that? Besides, even if they do know, why would they care?

"If you need someone to fight for you, we would be happy to help!" Heisuke shouted, almost making her flinch. She then processed what he said. She then laughed, her face contorting into a small smile.

"The Irony…" She said bluntly. It was true, the people who could be the cause of her death were offering to help her. She watched as their faces instantly fell, including Saito's. She then felt upset that she was the reason to cause that. She didn't like it. She then realized something.

"How did you guys know…?" She asked letting her voice trail off. Chizuru watched as they all looked at each other, wondering if they should tell her or not. Okita finally looked at her.

"Your wounds. They weren't fresh. We had thought that you had unfortunately ran into our furies, when you were running from someone. Although I guess that's not the case." He purred with delight. She then realized what he had said. She stopped. She, was making conversation with the Shinsengumi!

It almost scared her and made her jump when she thought about it. '_She was __enjoying__ talking to the Shinsengumi Captains!' _

She knew about the Captain's, and because of past experiences she was not very fond of them. She had also heard the rumours. Everyone heads heard of the 'Wolves of Mibu' the vicious, merciless killing machines that cut down anyone in their path. Then the situation hit her like a knife to the heart. She almost laughed as she realized it, she thought that she could reason with them. They were the 'Wolves of Mibu' they didn't reason with anyone. She almost laughed out loud when she realized that she had a chance to live without usage of her sword. She knew from the bottom of her heart that there was going to be bloodshed.

She wanted out. Right now. She couldn't stand being in a room with them. They were killers. She couldn't argue that she wasn't, but they did it to anyone. She now wanted her sword more than ever. She realized she wasn't going to survive today, so she at least wanted to take down as many killers as possible. She could fight bare hand, but they were nothing compared to the swords dangling from their sides. She was just about to demand her sword when she looked up and almost stopped breathing.

The expressions on their faces was unbelievable. They were all sitting their patiently. She then blushed upon realizing she had probably zoned out for a couple of minutes. The expression upon their faces was different. They were all staring at her with, what looked to be looks of… _Concern? _She was now confused. Even Saitou and Souji, had mild looks of concern on their faces. She then realized that, she may have been wrong about everything. Just because there were rumours about them doesn't mean they're necessarily true. Right?

But then another part of her mind convinced her about her family's side of things. She sighed. Why were things so complicated? She then decided to push all of that out of her mind. They wouldn't matter if she was executed, or possibly seppuku if they allowed it. She needed make a plan of escape. Not a plan of escaping with force, but a plan with reasoning. She needed to think of some sort of deal or perhaps a challenge that would allow her the opportunity to leave. She then smiled, as she thought of the perfect idea. It would allow them to see what they were up against, and also be the best way to leave. Her smile didn't go unnoticed by the Shinsengumi captains.

"Whatcha smiling about Chizuru-chan?" Okita finally asked, smirking as she quickly threw her head up. She was confused as to why he called her by her first name, as everyone could tell by her not noticing that the pink flower in her hair had dropped. She sighed.

"Nothing." She said with a small smile. She went back into her thoughts not noticing all the staring the captains gave her. She still hadn't noticed her dropped flower, and it was driving Harada crazy. She had looked pretty with it in her hair.

"Chizuru." He said as stood up. She glanced up confused, as why he mentioned her name. He walked over and quickly, picked up the flower. It dawned as to what he was about to do to the others, as everyone glared at him angrily. Chizuru was still confused as he held the flower in front of her face.

"You dropped this." He said in a low voice. He swiftly pulled back a stray piece of her hair, putting it behind her ear. He positioned the delicate flower between his two rough fingers, slowly putting it into her hair.

Upon realizing what he was doing she blushed in shock. No one had ever done something like that before.

As soon as he positioned it the way he thought looked best on her, he slowly backed up, wordlessly sitting back down.

Before Chizuru could even react the shoji door slid open. Chizuru watched in anticipation as the three people, who had stepped out before walked back in silently sitting back at the end of her futon. She then noticed that all of them had red faces, as if they were arguing. A bitter expression showed up on her face. _'They probably were arguing. Most likely if I was going to live or die tonight'_ Chizuru thought with a sigh.

"We have decided your fate." The man named Hijikata said not bothering to look up. He took in a breath, about to announce the results that that all the Shinsengumi's captains and Chizuru wanted to know about. He was about announce the verdict but was cut off by Chizuru herself.

"Wait." Chizuru said bluntly. She saw the looks of confusion on everybody's faces. "I have a proposal." Chizuru said emotionlessly. She watched as Hijikata raised an eyebrow, before narrowing his eyes.

"We're listening." He said, anger clearly in his voice for being interrupted. She smiled. She knew this was it. If this didn't work, she knew she was dead. It didn't matter though. This was her last attempt at living. She looked up and gave a genuine smile, tilting her head the tiniest.

"My proposal is I duel with three of your best swordsma- fighters." She changed upon seeing the spear in Harada's hands. "If I win all three consecutive matches, I get to leave. But if you win even once…" She smiled. This was it. "I'll answer one question, then commit suicide."

_So there you have it! Chapter 3! ~ I Hope you enjoyed it because I enjoyed writing it. In the story I left some hints, that suggest parts of her past. I also need to say that I have not yet decided on the pairing as I am still deciding who will work well with her new personality. If you haven't figured it out, her personality is – Sarcastic and Strong but also caring and kind. The original Chizuru is still somewhere in there! So please enjoy! Please Rate and Review! It helps motivate me. Also, Happy new year and have a Wonderful day!~_

_~Shadow_

_January 2, 2015_


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